Chicken Involtini with Spinach, Speck, and Asiago

involtini di pollo con spinaci, speck, e asiago

Is there an ingredient less inspiring than a thinly sliced chicken breast? I can think of maybe 2 dishes I would make with it, but I’m certainly not running to the kitchen to get started. It’s always a bit of a downer when I open the fridge to make dinner and remember that’s what I bought. But this recipe will change that tune – Chicken involtini with spinach, speck, and asiago!

Ok, it won’t win any beauty contest. But it will win for juiciest and cheesiest and overall most flavorful bundle of chicken goodness. Thinly sliced chicken breasts are rolled up with speck, sautéed spinach, and asiago cheese and then rolled in breadcrumbs and baked. Other than the prep, which I actually find relaxing and meditative, it’s an easy one pan, oven-baked dinner. The combination of the smoky and salty cured meat with creamy melted cheese and earthiness from the spinach is such a delightful combination of flavors.

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Before I start on the preparation, let’s discuss a few of these notable Italian ingredients. There is not one cured meat I don’t salivate for and speck is one of my favorites. It is lightly smoked, a touch spicy, and cured in the fresh mountain air of the South Tyrol province of Italy – picture snow capped Dolomite mountains…and pigs.

Speck Alto Adige IGP [Indicazione Geografica Protetta (Indication of Geographic Protection)] is guaranteed to be made with traditional methods, held to a strict quality standard, and by only 28 authorized producers in the province, since its first documented production circa year 1200. If you can’t find speck, prosciutto would be the closest substitute. 

Asiago is a cow’s milk cheese produced in the Veneto and Trento-Alto Adige regions of Northern Italy. Fresh asiago is smooth and great for melting or adding to panini. The aged asiago is crumbly and can be grated onto pasta or a salad. While it is now made in many other countries (and probably ends up on your favorite bakery’s asiago bagel), Asiago marked DOP [Denominazione di Origine Protetta (Protected Designation of Origin)] is guaranteed to be produced in all of the Vicenza and Trento provinces and parts of select Padua and Treviso provinces. Production is held to high quality standards, most importantly at the source, the cows – breeds like Bruna Alpina, Frisona Italiana, and Pezzata Rossa have populated their pastures for centuries. 

Asiago Pressato, which I am using in these chicken involtini with spinach and speck, has the flavor of fresh whole milk in a delicate, soft cheese. Categorized as a Swiss or Alpine-style cheese, it has irregular holes and tastes sweet and mildly acidic.  There are other great melting cheeses that can be used here if you can’t find asiago, provolone would work or even mozzarella. 

Our third stuffing ingredient is spinach. I use fresh spinach and wilt it down in a pan. Sometimes the store-bought spinach is pre-washed, but sometimes not, so I always give it a good rinse and dry it thoroughly in a salad spinner or with paper towels. I’m going to cook the spinach in a dry pan so you don’t need to worry about an oil and water clash, in case the spinach isn’t dried completely.

I heat a large sauté pan to about medium and pile in the spinach; it might look like a lot and that it won’t fit in the pan, but that’s ok. Use a fork or tongs to toss the spinach around and get all the leaves in contact with the heat; they will start shrinking very quickly. In only a few minutes, all the spinach should be wilted and cooked down. Transfer the spinach to a colander placed over a bowl or in the sink. Once the spinach has cooled a bit, I give it a little squeeze to get out the excess moisture. I don’t need all that extra liquid inside my involtini. Frozen spinach would also work. Just be sure to also squeeze out the extra moisture once it’s defrosted. 

As for the chicken breasts, you can buy boneless, skinless breasts already thin sliced or whole and then carefully slice them in half yourself. It’s ok if some are bigger or slightly thicker than others; once they are all rolled up and nestled in the baking pan, you won’t notice a difference and they will bake at the same rate.

I make a little breading station that simply consists of breadcrumbs, grated parmigiano reggiano cheese, and a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper. 

Now that I have all of my filling ingredients ready for the stuffed chicken breasts, I can start on the assembly. So that the breadcrumbs stick to the chicken, I rub them down with some olive oil. I then take one piece of chicken and press it, both sides, into the breadcrumbs. Give it a little pat with your fingers so the breadcrumbs and grated cheese stick, and then I just leave it right in that plate while I add the stuffing items – no need to dirty another plate.

First, a layer of speck. I just take one slice and lay it across the whole piece of chicken. Then a blob of spinach and I put it in sort of a line across the width of the chicken. And lastly the asiago cheese. I cut the cheese into a thick, rough matchstick, about as long as the chicken is wide, and I simply lay that across the spinach. Now we just roll that up tight and place it in a baking dish. I lined my dish with parchment paper and gave it a little drizzle of extra virgin olive oil on the bottom so nothing sticks.

We continue with the rest of the pieces of chicken. Make sure to nestle all the involtini closely next to each other in the pan so they’re cozy and touching. This will help them stay rolled up tight and keep the chicken moist and juicy. If you have any remaining breadcrumbs and cheese mixture, sprinkle that on top of our little involtini bundles, all lined up and ready to go. I also give it one last drizzle of extra virgin olive oil over the top. They bake for about 25-30 minutes.  The top will get a nice crispy golden brown color and there should be melty cheese oozing out from the chicken, which is really good sign. They are best served warm from the oven.

Chicken Involtini with Spinach, Speck, and Asiago Recipe

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